MISTAKES ACTORS MAKE-AT THE AUDITIONn By Katherine Schreiber
1. Save the Socializing for Later
If you’ve been in the biz for a while, you’ll likely run into yet another person you know at that next audition. But Theater World award-winning actress and teacher Julie Garfield warns actors not to get too chatty.“It’s very important to not waste time or energy catching up with your friends when you could be centering yourself before a reading,” says Garfield. “You don’t have to make enemies, but you must prioritize the work you’ll be doing in the audition over socializing with other actors in order to be adequately focused and prepared.” Garfield suggests a polite wave or nod of acknowledgment followed by a return to the sides or script in your hand. She also recommends donning headphones to convey that I’m in my own head now, thanks message to incoming chatterboxes.
2. Follow The Reader
So you think the person feeding you lines isn’t as important as the text you’re reciting back to them? Think again. Actors should always remain aware of their readers, emphasizes T. Schreiber Studio and Theatre’s Co-Artistic Director Peter Jensen. No matter what that reader may be giving you. “You’ve got to play off of, or at least find someway to use, the reader,” Jensen says. “Some actors pretend someone else is seated across from them, delivering them cues, rather than really engaging the actual reader.” Big mistake.nnAnother note? Do not take a reader’s delivery of a line as your opportunity to rehearse what you’re going to say next.nn“So many actors make the mistake of looking down at their scripts and getting ready for their upcoming line when a reader is speaking,” says Jensen. “This prevents you from being engaged and spontaneous.” Look up, listen, and truly hear what the reader is saying to keep yourself authentically in the moment. Don’t be surprised if this slight adjustment gets you a few more callbacks down the line.
3. Don’t Fight Your TypennSuccess in acting is as much about knowing how you read as it is about what you read. That means going for auditions you’re more likely to get rather than for auditions that are out of your range. “A lot of actors just don’t have any awareness of whether they’re a character actor or a true leading lady or man,” says Terry Schreiber, founder and Artistic Director of T. Schreiber Studio and Theatre. Absent the knowledge of what they’re best suited for — physically or emotionally — actors can waste a lot of time going up for auditions they haven’t a chance in the world of making. Schreiber himself admits that it wasn’t until he “gave into being a Midwest Farm Boy that I started getting cast.” Actors may resist being cast as a type or feel demoralized at the thought they aren’t right for a leading role. But ultimately, says Schreiber, “you’re really only going to get your foot in the door by playing the obvious.”A tip for still-starting-out actors: Get to know who you are and what you throw off when you walk into a room by asking directors, teachers, or agents what precisely this looks like. And pay attention to the types of roles you keep getting sent out for or cast in.nnOnce you become established as one kind of character, then you can prove how far your emotional or behavioral range extends.nnTake it from Schreiber: “It wasn’t until I gave into being a Midwest Farm Boy that I started getting seen by people. Only after I’d established myself as that type was I able to take on more nuanced — and prominent — roles.”